I once got my bike caught in the space between the rail and the grade crossing and there was a train coming, I had plenty of time and got out but if it got any closer i would have left he bike and got out of the way!
People the try to “beat” trains are idiots, I know 2 people that got killed that way
I have been on three trains that have hit vehicles. The first one was a fatal[:(].
the last one was a semi loaded with cardboard that had stalled on the crossing. the driver got out but the trailer was demolished and the F40 damaged.It had to be set out,and we continued with one unit several hours late.
What about the second one?
The second one was a VW Rabbit.The driver stopped too close to the track, and got the front of her car clipped. The driver was not hurt as the train was moving slowly at the time.
In my sillier moments when I would see people in various stages of going around the gates in front of my train, I often thought what we need on the locomotive is a huge P.A. system, with a volume capable of about 130db, with microphones in the cab so we could yell at the idiots.
Hmmm—maybe a person yelling would be more effective than a train whistle. They hear a train whistle and they hurry to get past. Perhaps during the 10 seconds preceding the train crossing the road, the crew could start shouting at all the ‘possibles’. "WATCH OUT! TRAIN COMING! RUN AWAY! DEATH APPROACHING!
I think we should start showing more OLI commericials on TV
First, I would immediately get with the local road authority and explain this serious situation. Sounds like the crossing approaches could use some reconfigurations. Second, make certain that you have the applicable 800 number to contact the railroad should a truck become high centered. Third, I would contact your local Operation Lifesaver coordinator and try to arrange presentations for truckers at your facilities and at a minimum share information with them about crossing safety.
One of the crossings in my old hometown (Milford, MI) had steep slopes on both sides. Cars were OK. The auto carrier should never have tried. He was carrying “Wynn’s Friction Proofing” vans, painted their trademark red and yellow. Apparently nobody got word to the RR (C&O in those days), and there were soon red and yellow vans scattered about the ROW, courtesy of a southbound. Tied stuff up for quite a while.
The crossing is long since closed, but I chased a bunch of kids off the track there last weekend, during a visit.
Here in LA, we have more than we can handle of idiots. On the light rail line near where I live, the problem is not so much their racing of the train, but rather that they will bolt across whenever the gates are high enough. What we need to do is get a steam locomotive, and run it buy all the crossings at 10 miles per hour, with cylinder and blowdown cocks open, a massive plume of black smoke rising, and the whistle and bell going, to show people in their SUV’s and Hummers that they aren’t nearly the biggest thing on the road.
See you around the forums,
Daniel
A friend and I were following the River line in North Jersey, during Conrail days, and stopped at a town called Hayworth. The road is slightly below the tracks next to it. We were looking toward the crossing waiting for the next train. When it did show up, so did a station wagon, complete with a family and kids. The idiot driver then went through the flashers and beat the train by literally seconds. If they had paused even for a moment, my friend would have had a very interesting picture!
The fun part of that day was watching a NJTransit bus rip off a car door when the driver opened it right in front of it. Talk about not looking.
My club members told me of an incident that involved a CN train versus a truck carring steel beams. Ever watch Braveheart. Remember at Stirling how Wallace stopped the attack of the English heavy cavalry? Needless to say the locomotives were ripped a new one and it was the truck driver’s fault.
Sounds like a job for the UP Big Boy!
Hey trainman1221, don’t you mean “Haworth”?
You wouldn’t happen to remember which street this was, would you?
While running trains on the South Shore, down the street in Michigan City I had more than once: Get on the rails and drive right towards me, then swerve to their left into on-coming traffic. And, race along side of me, pass me, get on the rails and signal for a left hand turn and stop. I know. It’s the railroads’ fault.
Mitch
There’s a couple of problems with those fixes. First, we do have the 800 number for NS, and have used it often for stuck vehicles or malfunctioning gates. As for redesinging the crossing approach, it’s technically running through private property (the company’s), and the line parrelells the public roadway so closely that it would nearly impossible to do any type of reconstruction on this particular crossing… it’s just in a bad spot. As for having presentations with the truckers, these aren’t company truckers, or they would have had safety standdowns long ago. They are always contractors or deliveries. They are not a very common occurance and the company has no way of knowing or deciding who will
I remember an incident just this summer, in fact it was in July at Attridge road in North Chili, west of Rochester, NY. This fool in his black pickup truck first did a sort of rolling stop and then sped off through the crossing. At the time, the flashers were going and the gates were about to go down. Even though the train was just revving up it seemed to me that the driver should have stopped before the gates looked around and listened before reacting. Some people are so strange.!?
Overmod,
Don’t know the street name, but there was a florist nearby. You are right about it being Haworth.
I once read: There was a car with 4 high school students in it approaching a RR crossing that was activated. The lights were flashing, but, didn’t have gates. The driver sped up and beat the train over the crossing. The driver then says “boy, that was lucky, that saved us at least 5 minutes!”
One student then replied “so, what are you going to do with those 5 minutes you saved?”
Trains vs. Cars, the cars usually lose.